The construction boom in Haiti driven by Diasporan money, UN [MINUSTAH] and government funds is destroying the local environment around the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Hillsides are being cut away and river beds decimated to feed the huge demand for rock…

There are two related issues in this matter. One that of Reynold Georges, is about evicting specifically 300 families from an area of Camp Acra & Adoquin with a view to evicting all 32,000 residents [6000 families] plus the fate of all remaining camps and this is where the focus needs to be. As Chanjem Leson write on their website, they have a plan for the housing of all camp Acra & Adoquin and a means for them to create their own income generation projects. The second issue is that of persecution of human rights lawyers and camp activists.

We know that in certain situations shit can kill and the poorer you are the more likely you could die of a shit related illness CHOLERA is a prime example, so shit is a poverty issue and a class issue. We know there are issues of privacy, access to â€˜toiletsâ€™ especially at night and sexual violence in unlit densely populated urban areas, so shit is also a gender issue. We know that some people risk physical violence or are refused entry into toilets such as a proposed ban in Arizona where transgender people would not have the rights to choose the toilet of their choice so shit is also a transgender issue. With shit playing such a prominent part in our lives, why is what happens to it so mysterious?

Last Saturday, Haitian police burned and broke up Camp Acra 2, at Petion-Ville. The destruction of the camp and forced removal of people is part of the people cleansing which has included removal and destruction of the mostly women market vendors in Frere, Petion-Ville and Delmas 33. Camp Acra has been home to 15,000 people since the 2010 earthquake. It seems to me that the government is purposely targeting camps and markets which are in those areas designated for ‘urban renewal’ and gentrification. The story that the numbers of people in camps has been reduced to about 250,000 is completely false as I explained in this previous post.

“Mambu Badu is a photography collective founded in 2010 by Allison McDaniel, Kameelah Rasheed, and Danielle Scruggs. The collective’s mission is to find, expose, and nurture emerging self-identified woman photographers of African descent. “Mambu Badu” is an adaptation of the…

The third anniversary on January 12, 2013 of the earthquake in Haiti was marked yet again by a flood of new reports, opinions, facts and figures: a repetition of the past two years in terms of the lack of progress…

Rea kept trying to get through on the phone but the lines were also dead. They had no idea if the other children who left earlier on the tap tap buses had arrived safely or even if their own house was standing. They walked fast at times running the 10 kilometers through the horror and panic of the streets. They did not stop. Pennier is a long walk from Petion Ville on a good day and this was a day of terror that would stretch out into months ahead.

I have had two visits to Haiti in the past 12 months, for a month in November/December 2010 and a week in October/November 2011. Nearly a year apart in time but with very little improvement. Ah yes, a three mile…

In remembering and honouring all those who died on January 12th 2010 I would also like to honour those who have survived the awfulness of this past 12 months. Quite rightly blogs and some media are full of stories…

I recently finished my second reading of “Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work” [Excellent Review here] I consider Danticat to be a courageous writer. She is not afraid to expose her vulnerability, her self-doubt, her longing to be included…

Haitians are now dying of dirty water and insanitary conditions which they have been forced to endure for the past 10 months. Over 250,000 Haitians have already died as a result of the earthquake and now thousands more are going…

Fundraising appeal for SOPUDEP (Society of Providence United for the Economic Development of Petion-Ville) in Port-au-Prince. The school was started in 2002 by community activist Rea Dol to provide education for children from the poorest families – those who could…

Rea Dol is the Director and co-founder of Society of Providence United for the Economic Development of Petion-Ville (SOPUDEP), a grassroots organization in Haiti offering education for children and adults and a micro-credit program for women. Her work in the…

Beverley Bell explains that in “ceding it’s independence”, the Haitian government and the US led [re]construction has allowed the Haitian earthquake to be used to consolidate the foreign occupation of Haiti which is led by the “Interim Commission for the…

This afternoon I got soaked in a torrential down pour in South Florida. First thing I thought about was all the people living outside or in tents in Haiti. After I got myself nicely showered and dry I sat down…

Kali Akuno critiques the notion of ‘humanitarian interventionism” which he describes as an ideological and strategic tool of neoliberalism….. a tool developed through the auspices of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), under the guiding hand of the US government, to…

Haitian community activist Rea Dol talks about SOPUDEP the school she started in 2000, the struggles to keep it going and surviving the earthquake… without the help of the “Republic of NGO’s”. This is what happened to Rea and thousands…